Father Gebre Egziabher Gebru passed away in Addis Ababa on September 2, 2025. The Ethiopian Consolata missionary left a profound impression as a man of God on all who knew him.
By Jaime C. Patias *
Abba Gebru was born in 1940 in what is now Eritrea, but was then part of Ethiopia. He entered the monastery of Debre Samuel, becoming an Orthodox monk and was ordained a priest in 1961.
Two years after his ordination, he was sent as parish priest of the Orthodox Church in Assela. It was there that he met the Consolata Missionaries, who had a large center for disabled children.
The charismatic personality of Father Giovanni De Marchi, IMC, one of the Consolata missionaries in Ethiopia in the 1970s, introduced Father Gebru to the Catholic Church and the Institute.
After several years of discernment, he decided to join the Consolata Institute. He was then sent to Ireland for theological studies, followed by a novitiate in Italy, Vittorio Veneto, where he took his first vows on September 4, 1983.
Returning to Ethiopia, he was assigned to the Gighessa mission, where he took his perpetual vows in 1986. Father Gebru carried out his ministry in various missions: Gighessa, Modjo, Wonji, Weragu, Shashemane, and Gambo. In 2020, from Gambo, where he was parish priest, he retired to Addis Ababa until his death on September 2, 2025.
In October 2024, Abba Gebru attended the canonization of Saint Joseph Allamano in Rome. On that occasion, he gave an interview to the General Office for Communication.
Below is the full interview in Amharic with an English translation by Father Tamene Assaro.
